Mourning Mom Sews Quilts for Veterans

HAVERHILL- The day before he died, Barbara O’Neill’s son called and told her how cold and dark it was at night in Afghanistan.

She was sewing a quilt for him then, but put it away unfinished after the news came. Now, she is filling her days with a new purpose. She is giving warmth, if not to her son, then to the people he most admired – the veterans of Haverhill.

Every perceptive teacher sees a diversity of strengths and weaknesses in each of her students: There is the child who loves math but has trouble playing well with classmates, the one who makes friends easily but struggles to stay focused on written tasks, and another who creates beautiful paintings but can’t seem to retain much of what she’s read.